ATM $37,000: Homeless man hits 'lottery' by way of ATM machine

A homeless man from Maine was using an ATM when it malfunctioned and gave him more than $30,000.

on.aol.com

An ATM dispensed $37,000 to a homeless man who took advantage of the malfunctioning machine. On April 5, the Christian Science Monitor reported that a man in Maine went to an ATM and requested $700 in the "cash advance" setting. The machine dispensed the money despite the man only having about $100 in his account. He managed to do this repeatedly, 53 times, until he hit $37,000.

Police were called to the TD Bank branch after a woman called and alerted them to a man "spending an unusual amount of time" at the ATM. Police arrived to find the man (who's name has not been released) shoving money into a bag.

The ATM's $37,000 oops was rectified and the man was forced to give every penny back. At this point, the bank has not pressed charges but police say that could change. "It is illegal. He is taking money that doesn’t belong to him, and the bank at this point has elected not to prosecute, although the case is still under investigation. That ATM has been taken out of service and is being checked out to determine why it malfunctioned," said Lt. Todd Bernard of the South Portland Police Department (via the Christian Science Monitor).

The bank has said that the malfunctioning machine was due to a "code error" and no one's accounts were affected.

Share this article

Bostonian Effie Orfanides has been reporting on breaking news stories since 2009. After graduating with a BA in English, she simply had to find an outlet that would allow her to foster her love for writing and reporting. When she is not writing (a day off? What's that?), she enjoys spending time with her husband and their pets.